Aerating butter-separator.



A. FAY. AERATING BUTTER SEPAEATOR.

I 7 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,1911. 1,019,235

PatentedMr. 5, 1912,

2 SHEETS-SHEET v1.

Jhventar A. PAY. AERATING BUTTER SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILEDJUNE7,1911.

1,919,235. Pat e nted Mar.5,1912.

' zsmnzrs-mm 2.

ALPHEUS FAY, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

AERATING BUTTER-SEPARATOR.

Specification of 'Letters' Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912- Application the; June 7, 191,1. Serial No.631,840.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known'that- I, ALrHEUs FAY, a citizenof the United States, and resident of Louisville, in the county ofJefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and usefulAerating Butter-Separator,

of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to butter separators of the aerating type, and itsobject is to provide a simple device of this character, of increasedefficiency, for separating the butter from the non-fatty milk elementsby an aerating and agitating action, andwhich will be adaptable readilyto different cond tions metwith in such treatment.

My invention consists in the provision of a novel construction of thedasher or agitator, and in improved relative arrangement of the dasherand brake, as well as in improved means for imparting motion to themechanism, whereby the liquid acted upon is utilized as a medium in thedistribution of the energy applied to the driving of the separator. Myinvention also consists in therdetails of construction and arrangement,as will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure'l is a sectional elevation of a device embodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a detail planview of part of one of the brakearms. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the dasher or agitator, the upperpart, well as the agitator shaft, being in elevation. Fig. 4 is asectional plan view of .said agitator. Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofpart of the agitator. Fig. 6 illustrates, in sectional plan, amodification of the agitator. z

The agitator 1 is of improved design, to more efficiently agitate theliquid, as will be described, and mounted on a vertical shaft 2. Abracket 3, with a standard 3* on a base 3", supports the operatingmechanism. The vessel l, to hold the liquid operated upon, is supportedon the base 3 in a depression therein, and is readily removabletherefrom. The driving shaft 5 is horizontally journaled in the bracket3, at thetop of the apparatus, and has a crank or handle 6 outside thebracket, for manually operating the separator. The brake 7 is rotatable,and com- 'prises upright slats 7 embracing the agitater 1, inside thevessel. This brake'7 has the upper arched arms 7 receiving and hpldingrigidly the upper ends of the slats 7*; the lower ends of the slats areheld in lower horizontal arms 7, which have a stud 7 extending down andturning'in a step' bearing 7 on the bottom of thevessel 4.

Above, these arms7 have a hub 7 thathas a step bearing 2" for thevertical agitator shaft 2, at the lower end thereof. This agitator shafthas the bearing for its upper end in the bracket 3, at- 2.

The upper arched'arIns-7 of the brake 7 have a central hub 7 .thatreceives the reduced hub-of a dished bevel gear 7 Said arms 7*, and,consequently, the entire'brake 7, are rigidly attached to this gear 7 tor0- tate with it, byfimeans of a thumbscr ew 7, as here. shown. Thehollow side of this dished gear-,7 is presented upwardly, and a pinion 2'is rigidly mounted directly on the agitator shaft 2, within the hollowofthe dished gear 7. The shaft 5 has two bevel gears 5 and 5 rigidlymounted on it,'which mesh with the dished gear 7 and with the pinion 2,respectively, the gears and the pinion being proportioned accordingly.As shown, -the dished gear 7 and its meshing gear 5 are of equaldiameter, and they are, accordingly, miter gears, while the gear .5 isof the same diameter as the gear 5?, but proportioned to mesh with thepinion 2*. The dished formation of the gear 7 allows the two drivinggears 55 and 5 to be thus of the saine diameter, which is preferred, asit gives a mOIGfiIIIShBd appearance to the apparatus. The necessaryprovislon is that the agitator 1 be rotated faster than the brake 7rotates, and in the same direction.

The agitator 1 comprises the lower hollow impelling member 1, on thelower endof the hollow shaft 1'. The hollow shaft 1* has the downwardlyfurcated hub 1 thatis rigidly secured to the agitator shaft 2 by athumbscrew, and receives the 0 en upper end of the hollow shaft 1 in its.Lll'QtLtlOIlS; thus, air may enter and pass down into the hollow shaft.This open uppcr end of the shaft is brought high enou h, in eachinstance", to be above the level of the liquid in the vessel. In itsextreme upper position, as illustrated, it is somewhat above the upperrim ofthe vessel 4, allowing the vessel to be completely f lled, ifdesired. However, in practice, filled, enough space being'left abovetheliquidto avoid throwing liquid from the vessel by the action of'therotating brake 7.

The hollow impelling member 1 of the the vessel is 'not completelyagitator 1, before referred to, may best be described as rectangular,with equal sides, but wit-h the corners or, angles removed, or, asillustrated in Fig. 6, as triangular, equi" lateral, with its anglesremoved. In either case, being hollow, with relatively thin walls, theremoval, or omission, of the corners leaves apertures 1 communicatingfrom the interior of the hollow impeller to the space in the vessel, orto the liquid therein; fhe. lower end of the hollow shaft l being open,the air can circulate down into the 111i38Ii0I. of the impeller 1and'out through the apertures 1 intothe liquid in the vessel.

Inspection of Fig.4 will enable it to be readily understood that thewalls of the angular agitator will agitate the liquid out side theagitator, and they will also impel the liquid inside the agitator,acting centrifugally on it, so that it will pass out through theapertures 1, in the direction of the small white arrows. \Vith therotation of the agitator as indicated by the long arrows, the pressureon. the surrounding liquid, outside the agitator, will be substantiallyin the direction of the small black arrows. It will be understood thatthe centrifugal impelling effect on the inside liquid, forcing it outof'the -agitator.through the apertures 1, will causea partial vacuuminside of the agitator, which will, in turn, induce the downward flow ofair through the hollow shaft, and out with the liquid, and through theliquid in the main. body. The agitation and the universal air currentsthus set up are what are desired, and my inven-- 'tion produces them ina peculiarly effective manner, owing to the novel formation of theagitator, just described.

It will be found advantageous to adjust the parts of the agitator so asto regulate the amount of aeration with respect to the amount ofagitation, F or this purpose, the angular hollow agitator is made withits upper wall detached from its side Walls, and adjustably securedthereto by screws 1, taking into lugs i on the lower side of the upperwall, and taking through, vertical slots in said side walls, to betightened against said side Walls, and hold them stationary invariouspositions. This upper wall may be rigidly attached, or integral,with the tubular shaft 1, and the lower wall, or bottom, simply has anopening in its center through which the agitator shaftQ- passes, andWit-hwhich it has a close bear-- ing, which thus steadies the lower endof the agitator.

By the adjustment just described, it will be seen that the bottom of theagitator may .be made to approach the upper side, diminishing the spaceinside the agitator, as well as the, size of the apertures 1', but, atthe same tithe, the side walls, which dothe agi- -tion, the butter willbe tating, are not altered, since they simply move up, outside the upperwall, and present the same surface to the surounding liquid. Thus,relative adjustment of the agitation and aeration is accomplished in amost simple manner, the' parts being economically constructed, and themanipula tion and the work of keeping them clean being reduced to aminimum.

As shown, especially in Fig. 2, where the slats of the brake 7 areattached to the arms,

these arms are bifurcated to receive the slats between theirbifurcations, and, in addition each arm has a slit 7 extending back fromthe bifurcated part, allowing approach of the parts, so that a screw 17,passing through the arm, across the slit 7, may

draw the parts tightly together and clamp the shit. The lower arms 7have these screws 7", which may be turned with a screw driver, but theupper arms 7 have thumbscrews 7", so that the slats may be readilydetached from the arms 7", allowing disassemblage of the brake ifdesired, for cleaning the parts. In the same way, the arms 7' may be thegear 7, and the hub l may be loosened from the shaft 2-, and theshaftwithdrawn. This latter detachment is sufficient to allow separationofthe' agitator from the brake. The lower part of the impeller member 1may be removed from the upper part, allowmg 'access to the interiorthereof, and also to the interior of the hollow shaft l so that allparts-may be conveniently cleaned and. kept in a sanitary condition.

The bracket 3 is secured to its standard 3 by having a stud 3 that fitsinto a socket- 3 on the standard, they having corresponding otfsets 3that prevent swinging of the bracket on the standard; a thumb-screw 3passes up into the lower end of the stud 3 where. it extends to thelower open end of detached from the hub of the socket 3, and bearsagainst the lower side of the socket, clamping the bracket firmly inposition. This fastening is loosened, and the bracket raised, when withdrawing the shaft 2 from the agitator and brake, as before mentioned.

For making butter with my separator, either sweet or sour cream may betaken, and a suitable quantity placed in the vessel, at a temperature ofabout 60 to (35 degrees Fahrenheit, and the apparatus operated for aperiod of from three to five minutes. After such a period of agitationand aeraseparated from the cream and collected in a mass. The residue,containing the non-fatty milk elements, is then withdrawn, a faucet atbeing provided in the lower part of the vessel 4 for the purpose ofconveniently removing liquids from the vessclwhile leaving the solidsubstance. However, it is impossible to effect an entire separation ofthe undesirable milk residues from the butter by merely decanting after.the separating process has been completed. I employ additional steps,amounting toa new process in the preparationof perfectly palatablebutter, bygranulating it with a purifying aerating agitation, which isperformed with the butter mass in contact with a body of pure .water.

. After all the non-fatty elements have been removed as thoroughly aspossible by simpledec'antation, as above mentioned, I introduce aquantity of pure water at a temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheitinto the ves sel, with the mass of butter that has been left therein,suflicient to submerge the mass. The operation of the apparatus is thenresumed, and the agitation and aeration car-- ried on, bringing everyparticle of the mass into intimate cont-act with the pure water, withthe presence of the circulating air. This resultsin substantiallydissolving the non-fatty elements, or, with respect to the insolubleones, efi ecting suspension of such elements in the water, which may. bewithdrawn, carrying the elements with it. The thoroughness of thepurifying action of'my process is finally reached when thewater, whichmay be repeatedly supplied afresh,

shows 'no more traces of the milk elements, as

itis withdrawn. Agitation and aeration of one or two minutes, durationwill result in granulation of the butter mass, and it is in thisgranulated condition that the operation is carried on to completion,which will require a few minutes more operation. Such granulation givesthe butter the best consistency for the efficient action of the air andwater thereon, as before alluded to. When the purifying operation iscompleted, the granules will float on the water in the vessel, in aneutral condition, and they may then be removed from the surface of thewater and worked'in any approved manner, the salt being added asdesired. The granular consistency of the-butter is again of the greatestadvantage in the working and salting operations, since it allows thevbest texture to be imparted; to the butter, and the most uniformand'intimate incorporatiomof the salt therewith. The saltmaybeintroduccdin solution, if desired, as the granulated butter produced by my processwill absorblimited quantities of moisture, for such purpose,-with greatfacility.

Other operations upon milk substances are also performed with greatadvantage with my apparatus, not only where separating is to be done,but in mixing and incorporation,

dr in the preparation of the substances for such mixing orincorporation- It Wlll also be adaptable for use in arts not involvingthe use of milk substances, for separating,

mixing, agitating, or other treatment of liquid oi; semi-liquidsubstances, oremulsions, .or-pafstes.

In any case, the peculiar arrangement of the operative mechanism willexhibit a novel advantage, in that the agitator and the" brake rotate inthe same direction, at different speeds, and are thus adapted tocooperate and perform their functionpthat of producing the requiredagitation of the substance being treated. It is evident that in aperforming this function, there will be a reaction taking place throughthe substance, such as the liquid, which will cause the morev rapidlyrotating part to exert a. driving effeet on the more slowlyrotating one,which will transmit this driving effect to the driving member of theapparatus in the form of assistance in turning the more rapidly rotatingone. This results in a balanced action of the device throughout, withall the acting Thus, with the agitator moving at a relatively. highspeed, the efficiency is. manifestly greater than with a stationarybrake. This balanced, equalizing action is in accordance with aprinclple that is original with me, so far as its disclosure has beenconcerned, and

.itis here exemplified as a correlative system of energy transmission,with a liquid, or other fluid, or a semi-liquid, as an element or mediumof the system. It is apparent that theprinciple may be present in theopera -tion of devices differing in their minor details, or in ,theirarrangement, and in the purposes for which they are designed. I,therefore, do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theprecise details of construction and arrangement herein set forth, but I1 What I claim as new and desire to secure by. Letter Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, a rotatable agitator, arotatable brake embracing the agitator and rotating coaxially withit, abevel gear with which the brake rotates, a bevel pinion with which theagita; tor rotates, a driving shaft. at an angle totlieaxis of theagitator and brake, and-bevel gears-on the drivingshaft' meshing, respectively, with,said gear with which the brake rotates, and with saidpinion, saidcgears and. pinions being so proportioned-that'theagilitator rotates faster than thebrake does. aim in the same direction2. In a device guarantee described: a rotatable agitator anda, shaftthere-v law for, a rotatable brake with said shaft for an axis, a' bevelpinion on said shaft rotating therewith, a dished bevel gear on thebrake rotating therewith and embracing said pinion, and bevel gears,coaxial and of equal diameter, meshing, respectively, with the pinion.and with the dished gear, for the purposes set forth.

' 3. In a device of the character described, a hollow agitator adaptedto act centrifugally on a substance and agitate it and aerate it byrotation at a relatively high speed, and a brake adapted to enact withthe agitator by rotation at a relatively low speed in .the samedirection as that of the rotation of the agitator, and means foractuating said agitator and said brake, whereby they are correlatedthrough the substance agiin a hub having a step of said sides,

tated..

4. In a device of the character described,

an agitator shaft, an agitator, a tubular shaft on the agitator aroundthe agitator shaft and extending upward, and a brake slats embracing theagitator and arms above and below tlieagitator having axes on the shaft,the arms below meeting bearing for the shaft, and the arms above meetingina hub whereby rotative movement may be transmitted to the brake, saidarms above being arched u pward from said slats to said hub, over thetubular shaft, and'actuating means for the agitator and the brake.

1 5. In a-device of the character described, an ,agitator having aplurality of sides and a t'o'p and a bottom, forming a. closed box,except at .the corners thereof, where there are apertures formed byomission of parts bottom and top that would complete the angularformation thercat, and

a communicating opening .in the top.

6. In a device of the character described, an agitator-having aplurality of sides and a top and a bottom, forming a closed box, exceptat the corners thereof, where there are apertures,'formed by omission ofparts of said sides, bottom and top that would complete the angularforinationthereat, and in the top, where a communicating opening isformed, said agitator having a hollow shaft attached continuous withsaid communicating opento said top with its interior ing.

7. In a device of the character described, an agitator having straightsides meeting a top and a. bottom and forming a closed box, except atcorners thereot, where there are rectangular apertures formed, and inthe top, where a communicating opening is formed, said agitator alsohaving a hollow shaft attached to said top with its interior continuouswith said communicating opening, forv the purposes set forth.

8. In a device of the character described, an agitator comprising anupper side and. a hollow shaft attached thereto with its interioropening therethrough, and a lower side spaced down from the upper side,and lateral sides attached to the lower and the upper sides, forming aclosed box, except at corners thereof, where there are. rectangularapertures formed, and means for adjusting the size of said apertures,for the purposes set forth.

a. In a device of the character described, an agitator adapted to actcentrifugally on a'substance when rotated in it, and to induce aircurrents through the substance, producing aeration, and means wherebythe aeration may be varied without varying the agitation, for thepurposes set forth.

10. In a device of the character described, an agitator having an upperside, with means for rotating the agitatorand for admitting air belowsaid upper side, attached thereto, a lower side spaced down from saidupper side, lateral sides secured to the lower side, leaving aperturesat the corners and extending up and embracing said upper side at itsedges, lugs on the lower surface of the upper side of the agitator, andscrews taking into the lugs, said lateral sides having upright slotsthrough which the screws take into said lugs, the screws being adaptedto clamp the lateral sides to the edges of the upper side, in variousadjusted positions, for the purpose set forth.

ll. In a device of the character described, an agitator of box-likeformation with apertured corners, and ahollow shaft extending up fromits top with its interior comn'iunieating with the interior of thebox-likeagitator, a shaft extending through the hollow shaft, andtl'irough the bottom of the boxlike agitator, which makes therewith tosteady the lower end of the agitator,a furoated hub on the upper end ofthe hollow shaft, said upper end being open, and said shaft extendingthrough the hub, and means for securing the hub to the shaft, for thepurposes set forth.

ALPHEUS FAY.

W'itnesses CLARENCE PERD'EW.

H. M. FAY.

intimate contact

